Todd Collins the Oenophile

Now I'm just in awe. (Preston Keres - TWP)

As part of our continuing effort to provide every detail on the life and times of Todd Collins, from his shoe size to the toppings he prefers on his baked potatoes to his favorite flavor of ChapStick....

You heard how Collins has a nose for fine wine, right? I wondered whether he was actually serious about his grapes.

"Yeah, absolutely," he said. "I'm an Oenophile."

Well then. Not only have the Redskins upgraded their offense over the past four weeks; they're now ever so much more prepared to host a dinner party.

"Morten Andersen kind of got me into it," Collins said of his wine habit. "He has over a thousand bottles or something like that. He was teamed with Damon Huard; he was a teammate of mine from up there in Washington. He introduced some of the Washington wines to me, in particular the Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2003 got 100 points by Parker in the Wine Advocate. I haven't even tried it yet, to tell you the truth."

Matt Hasselbeck, meanwhile, does ads for Campbell's Chunky Soup. This is gonna be such a mismatch.

Anyhow, according to Quilceda Creek, the 2003 Cab was actually the first Washington wine ever to receive 100 points. Putting aside the bursting notes of symmetry here--Washington state? Maturing well over time? Etc.--it's worth mentioning that the 2003 seems to be retailing for about $330 per. Collins owns a case. He plans to get another case this year. But he isn't a collector on the level of Andersen just yet.

"I just store a couple of cases for the long term," he said. "Generally, 90 percent of the wine you buy today is ready to be consumed immediately."

There was football to practice, and Collins was answering questions from the likes of Sports Illustrated today, and the likes of the Sports Illustrated reporters probably didn't care much about his tasting notes, but before he left for practice I asked what was the best wine he'd ever tried. He said probably some sort of big Cab from Napa, but he couldn't say for sure off the top of his head.

"You know what, I actually write them all down," he said. "I have ratings. I'll get back to you. I'll look it up."

That's right, Seahawks, the Redskins' QB keeps detailed tasting notes and ratings of all the wines he's tasted. Yeah, you should probably be afraid.

You should suggest that he try some Bordeaux and Rhone wines (Pichon-Lalande, Leoville-Las-Cases, Lafite, Mouton, Margaux, Beaucastel, Pegau, Ogier, etc.) - they're awfully good and he could clearly afford the high-end stuff if he likes 'em.

I suppose getting into European wine might seem even more potentially froufrou than the American wines it seems he's been drinking, but honestly, if you're willing to use the word "oenophile", come hard or stay home, right?